


Name Game

by doodles357



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Eventual Romance, First Meetings, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-09
Updated: 2019-04-09
Packaged: 2020-01-07 12:36:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18410783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doodles357/pseuds/doodles357
Summary: Cyrus works at the Starbucks on his college campus, and a cute guy keeps coming in and giving different fake names every time. He just wants to know the guy's real name, so he doesn't have to keep writing 'Batman' or something equally ridiculous onto his cups.





	Name Game

**Author's Note:**

> Based on a prompt I saw floating around. Nothing like a good old-fashioned coffee shop AU.

Cyrus sighed in relief as there was finally a break in the line of customers. He knew that coffee shops near college campuses could get pretty busy, but this was ridiculous. It was the week before finals, and it seemed like every student from his school had decided to get coffee at the same time. He felt as though he had been punching orders in at a non-stop pace and hadn’t had a chance to catch his breath since he had started his shift. But the line of people tapered off, and he was able to rest for a moment. He knew it wouldn’t last long, and as soon as that thought crossed his mind, a cold wind blew into the shop and rushed around him as someone entered the Starbucks. Plastering his best customer service smile onto his face, he greeted the group that approached the counter.

Normally, he didn’t mind his job. He was pretty good friends with his coworkers, and he enjoyed learning how to make the different drinks. It was only on days like these, where they were non-stop busy, that he wished he had a job that involved more sitting and less interaction with the general public. But he needed the money for college, so he sucked it up, and explained that no, there wasn’t an actual secret menu, and he wasn’t just saying that to be difficult. While most of their customers were college students, they also got a lot of people from varying age groups, and the middle-age crowd tended to be the most annoying.

After he finished taking the orders of the group that had come in, he checked his watch. Still half an hour to go until his break. He sighed again, and shifted his weight, trying to ease the soreness of his feet. After having worked at the shop for almost a whole semester now, he had gotten more used to being on his feet for long periods of time, but there were some days that it was harder than usual. Then the familiar cold rush of air greeted him once again, and he mentally prepared himself for taking more orders.

He looked up at his new customer, smile on face, and froze slightly. The guy standing across from him was…well, he was incredibly cute. There was no getting around that. Definitely college-aged, although Cyrus didn’t recognize him from campus. He had dirty blond hair that was swept back and sparkling green eyes. He was smiling at Cyrus in a friendly manner that seemed more personal than the typical polite-because-I-have-to-be smile that most people wore.

“Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get started for you today?” Cyrus asked, the well-rehearsed greeting falling from his lips without him even having to think about it.

“Hmm, can I get a Grande Coconut Milk Mocha Macchiato?” the guy asked, squinting briefly up at the menu before looking back at Cyrus, the friendly smile still on his face.

“Of course,” Cyrus replied, punching the order in. “Would you like anything else?”

“Nope, that should do it,” the guy said, pulling out his wallet.

“Your total is $5.23,” Cyrus told him. For the first time, he was grateful that the script he had to use was something that he could say in his sleep. The guy was distractingly cute, and had the conversation required him to think of something original to say, he would have definitely failed.

To his surprise, the guy handed him a couple of bills. He couldn’t remember the last time that someone under the age of 40 had given him actual cash. People his age used either a card or the app to pay. However, he took the guy’s money and handed his change back. He ignored the slight goosebumps he got when their hands brushed.

“What’s the name?” he asked, grabbing a cup and marker.

“Batman,” the guy said. Cyrus looked up in surprise, and slight annoyance. It wasn’t as though this was completely unusual; lots of people liked to give dumb names. At least this one wasn’t something inappropriate.

The guy’s face was arranged into the same friendly smile, but Cyrus could tell that he was trying not to laugh.

“Really?” he said dryly.

“The customer is always right, right?” the guy asked. It took everything in Cyrus’ power not to roll his eyes and he wrote ‘Batman’ on the cup.

“That’ll be right up for you,” he said, slipping back into the script. The guy simply grinned even wider at him, before sauntering down to the other end of the counter.

Since he had paid in cash, there was no way for Cyrus to know what his actual name was. When people did give fake names, they usually could see what their real name was from the credit card or app. But since he had paid in cash, he had no way of knowing. He tried not to glance down towards the other side of the counter to catch a glimpse of the guy and was almost grateful when other customers came in, so he was distracted.

A few minutes later, he heard Buffy call out, “Batman,” in a completely deadpan voice. He could almost hear her rolling her eyes. The guy ambled up to grab his drink and headed for the door. Cyrus tried to appear interested in something else, but his gaze followed the guy as he walked. As he pushed the door open with his hip, he turned back slightly and made eye contact with Cyrus. To Cyrus’ great surprise, the guy winked at him before slipping out the door. He could feel his face heating up, and he was glad that the guy had left before he saw the reaction his wink had caused.

Cyrus tried to put the guy out of his mind as he continued working. He was just some random college kid that he would probably never see again. He didn’t even know what his name was; all he knew was his coffee order and that he apparently didn’t mind being called Batman. That wasn’t anything to go on. Besides, just because a cute guy winked at him, it didn’t mean anything.

\--------

He had all but forgotten about the cute guy the next day, especially since they were just as busy, and he barely had time to breathe, let alone ponder the existence of some guy he had only met briefly. However, Cute Guy was brought back to the forefront of his mind when he showed up in the shop halfway through Cyrus’ shift.

“Welcome to Starbucks. What can I get started for you today?” Cyrus said, before realizing who was standing in front of him.

“Can I get a tall, Blonde Vanilla Latte?” the guy asked. He was grinning at Cyrus again, and Cyrus punched in his order, not sure how he should interact with the guy. He wasn’t sure if yesterday had been a fluke and the guy would give him a real name today, or if he was purposely being annoying.

Cyrus told him his total, and once again, the guy handed over cash. As Cyrus grabbed a cup, he said somewhat sarcastically,

“Is this for Batman?”

“Nope,” the guy said cheerfully. “That’s not my name.”

“Really,” Cyrus replied, unable to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. “Then what is it?”

“Harry,” the guy replied, and Cyrus was surprised to get a normal name, even though it wasn’t a super common one.

“Potter,” the guy continued before Cyrus could say anything, and he paused in the act of writing the name on the cup. He looked up at Cute Guy, who had the audacity to be grinning widely. Cyrus sighed and finished writing the name out. Apparently, he wouldn’t be getting a normal answer today after all.

He very determinedly did not look at Cute Guy after that, even when he walked past the counter after getting his drink. Cyrus couldn’t figure out what the guy’s deal was. Aside from just being annoying, he wasn’t getting anything out of it. Most people in the shop ignored it when a goofy name was used, and it wasn’t like he was coming in with friends who were egging him on. And he didn’t even know Cyrus, so why would he be doing it?

Once Cute Guy exited the shop, Cyrus felt himself let out a breath he hadn’t even realized he was holding. He shouldn’t be getting this worked up about it. Cyrus had dealt with customers that gave him anxiety before because of their behavior, and this wasn’t it. It was just a little quirk that the guy apparently thought was funny. It wasn’t like he was being rude or confrontational. The wink that he had received the other day came to the front of his mind, which he immediately pushed away. That didn’t mean anything. And just because the guy was cute, it didn’t mean that anything would be happening. He needed to focus on his work, and not on cute guys who distracted him.

\------

As the week progressed into finals week, and the winter holidays approached, work became more hectic than ever. Cyrus felt as though he was running on fumes, as he attempted to balance crazy shifts with his own studies for finals, as well as trying to get enough sleep, plan for the holidays, and figure out what he needed to pack to take home with him over break. He knew he had just had to get through the last two weeks of the semester and then life would be a lot easier. It was getting there that was the difficult part though.

Cute Guy was now coming in every day. While the shop had a lot of regular customers, Cyrus was pretty sure he had never seen this guy before his initial ‘Batman’ visit. And on each visit, he ordered a different drink, paid in cash, and gave Cyrus a ridiculous name to write on the cup. It had gotten to the point where Cyrus didn’t even ask for a name, but stood poised with marker in hand, ready to write ‘Frodo’ or something equally ridiculous on the cup.

He acted annoyed, but truthfully it wasn’t that bad. It bugged him a little bit that he didn’t know the guy’s real name, mostly because he was stuck calling him ‘Cute Guy in his mind. But his visits weren’t unwelcome; if for no other reason than the fact that he always gave Cyrus a wide smile, and the occasional wink. Cyrus had very little experience with flirting, but he couldn’t help but wonder if that’s what was happening.

During finals week, he and Buffy headed over to the library after their shift to study. She had a few things to say about Cute Guy as well, since she ended up having to shout out his orders most of the time.

“Would it kill him to just use a normal name?” she groused as they walked up the path to the library. “I don’t care if he makes up a fake name. I’m just sick of having to shout out ‘Clark Kent’ or ‘Voldemort’ every day.”

“At least he’s not doing the inappropriate ones like some people do,” Cyrus suggested. “Those are definitely worse.”

“I guess,” she conceded. “I don’t suppose he ever told you his real name, huh?”

“Nope,” Cyrus said. “Every day, it’s a new drink and a new name.”

“Weird,” she said. “I wonder what his deal is?”

“No clue,” Cyrus replied. They dropped their voices as they entered the building and found a table that wasn’t occupied by other stressed out college students. As they got their books and papers out, Buffy said in a low voice,

“Have you ever seen him on campus before?”

“No,” Cyrus said. “I mean, he looks like he’s our age, but that doesn’t mean that he goes here.”

“Hmm,” she mused. “Guess we could keep an eye out.”

They lapsed into silence as they both started going over their notes for their respective finals. As much as he tried to keep his attention on his history study guide, Cyrus’ mind kept drifting back to Cute Guy. He knew that this wasn’t something he should be thinking about right now; his history final was much more important than some guy who ordered coffee with fake names. But the fact that he didn’t know who he was kept bugging Cyrus. There was a chance that he did go to the same school; there were a ton of students, and there was no way that Cyrus had crossed paths with everyone. And there wasn’t anything about the guy that would make him stand out in a crowd. Sure, he was cute. So were a lot of other guys.

Cyrus mentally shook himself and tried to refocus on his notes. It didn’t matter anyways. The guy was likely just trying to be annoying, and there was no reason for Cyrus to dwell on it any longer. He had more important things to worry about, and in a week, he would be going back home for break. Cute Guy would be long gone, and he would probably forget about it by Christmas.

After spending about two hours studying, the two friends decided that they were done for the day. It was close to suppertime and neither of them were able to concentrate with their stomachs rumbling. They packed up their things and headed to the dining hall. Once they were out of the library, they were able to talk at full volume.

“What do you think you’d do if you see that guy around school?” Buffy asked him. Apparently, she was still stuck on the topic as well.

“I have no idea,” Cyrus said. “Say ‘hi Batman?’ It’s not like I’m going to chase him down and demand to know what his name is.”

“Kick him for being annoying,” Buffy suggested, causing Cyrus to let out a huff of surprised laughter. “What? If you’re not at work, you can annoy him back.”

“I don’t know if randomly kicking someone counts as being ‘annoying,’” Cyrus mused. “More like abusive.”

“I’ll kick him if you don’t want to,” Buffy said. “Maybe then I won’t have to keep yelling out stupid names every day.”

“Well, if I see Cute Guy anywhere, I’ll tell him to look out for you,” Cyrus joked. “What?” he asked when he noticed Buffy looking at him with her eyebrows raised.

“’Cute Guy?’” she repeated incredulously. Cyrus felt his cheeks heating up as he realized his slip-up.

“I have to call him something!” he protested. “I’m not just going to call him by one of his dumb made-up names!”

“I mean, I have a name for him in my head too,” Buffy said, giving Cyrus a sidelong look. “Definitely not the same as yours. More along the lines of dumba –”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Cyrus interrupted her before she could finish her sentence. “Just…whatever.” He knew there was no point in trying to defend himself after he said the nickname out loud.

Buffy snorted loudly. “I dare you to write ‘Cute Guy’ on his cup the next time he comes in instead of whatever he tells you.”

“No!” Cyrus gasped, feeling himself blushing again at the thought of doing something so brazen. “I would never!”

“Your phone number?” Buffy suggested, giving him a sly grin.

“Not happening,” Cyrus said with a firm shake of his head. Laughing, the two friends entered the dining hall, eager to get something to eat.

\----------

With it being finals week, Cyrus was working less than he normally would, which was fine with him. While he could always use the money, he also needed to be able to focus on his exams. This meant that he didn’t see Cute Guy every day. Since his shift had been shortened, he wasn’t working during the time that Cute Guy normally came in (and yes, he had been able to pinpoint a vague window of time when he would be likely to show up).

Technically his finals ended on Thursday, but he had still been scheduled to work that Friday. So instead of being able to head home, he got to head in to work. Luckily, most of his fellow classmates had also finished up on Thursday and had gone home, so work wasn’t nearly as crazy as it had been in the previous few weeks. Cyrus was counting down the hours until he was done with his shift; he was more than ready to head home and relax for a few weeks. With his attention divided between glancing at the time and wondering how he did on his finals, he had forgotten to anticipate a certain customer.

“You weren’t here yesterday.”

The voice surprised him, and he quickly glanced up from his wrist, where he had been checking the time again. Cute Guy was standing in front of him, wearing a dark blue beanie and his traditional grin.

“Sorry?” Cyrus said, caught off guard.

“You weren’t working here like you normally do,” the guy said. There was no one waiting in line behind him, so he apparently was content with making small talk. “Or the last couple of days.”

“I had finals,” Cyrus said. “My shift changed.”

“Hmm,” the guy said.

“I trust you were still able to order coffee without me here,” Cyrus said, trying not to sound too sarcastic. Annoying name faking aside, he didn’t want to risk sounding rude to a customer who hadn’t done anything wrong.

“Yeah,” the guy shrugged. “I guess I was just used to you taking my order.”

“Well, I’m here now,” Cyrus said. “What can I get started for you?”

“I’ll take a tall Caramel Brûlée Latte,” the guy said, pulling out his wallet as usual.

“Something new?” Cyrus remarked casually.

“You remember what I’ve gotten?” the guy asked, cocking an eyebrow. Cyrus fumbled slightly as he hit the keys on the pad.

“Isn’t it different every time?” he asked, hoping that the guy hadn’t noticed. He was smirking slightly, so he definitely had noticed.

“I’m impressed,” the guy said, grinning even wider. “Do you remember all your customers’ orders?”

“Most customers don’t make a habit of using obviously fake names every time they order, so they don’t stand out as much,” Cyrus retorted. “$4.57, please.”

The guy handed over some bills and gave Cyrus a slight wave as he headed down to the other end of the counter.

“Happy Holidays.”

He hadn’t given a name, and Cyrus hadn’t asked for one, since he had gotten distracted by their conversation. As Cyrus slipped the bills into the cash register, he realized that there was a slip of white paper in between the bills. At first, he assumed it was an old receipt or something, but when he looked more closely at it, he realized it was a phone number. He could feel his cheeks getting warmer as he realized what had happened. Not daring to look down at the end of the counter, he slipped the paper into his pocket and grabbed a cup. Buffy’s suggestion from the other day swam into his mind, and he pushed it back. Even with the slip of paper with the number on it burning a hole in his pocket, he wasn’t bold enough to write ‘Cute Guy’ on the cup. Pausing a moment to think, he scribbled ‘You-Know-Who’ on the cup instead. Buffy was working the same shift, and she would know who it was for.

A new customer had approached the counter, and Cyrus had to slap on his customer service smile and voice in order to take her order.  A few more people came in as well, and by the time there was a lull in the action, he realized that Cute Guy had left with his drink already. Feeling slightly disappointed, Cyrus checked his watch again. Only one more hour to go until freedom.

He didn’t get a chance to look at the paper again until much later that night. After getting off of work, he had gone back to his dorm, packed everything he needed for break into his car, and driven straight home. His parents had insisted on taking him out to eat to celebrate the end of the semester, and he spent a good deal of time talking to them about how his classes had gone. It was only right before he was about to go to bed that he remembered the piece of paper.

Fishing it out of his pants pocket, he studied it carefully. He knew what it meant, and he knew what he should do with it, but something was holding him back. Cyrus hadn’t had a ton of dating experience, and he was a little shaky when it came to flirting and such. Part of him was worried that he had gotten the number by mistake. Maybe it wasn’t even Cute Guy’s number; maybe someone had given their number to him, and it had gotten mixed up in his money.

Cyrus knew he was talking himself in circles, and he flopped down onto his bed and pulled out his phone. Plugging the number in as a new contact, he hovered over the keyboard as he contemplated ‘Contact Name.’ Feeling slightly bold, he plugged in ‘Cute Guy.’ That was the easy part. Navigating over to the messages app, he clicked to start a new message and added his new contact. Then he stared at the screen for at least five minutes, trying to think of what to say.

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: Draco Malfoy._

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: ?????_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: I don’t have a name for your contact info. So, I picked a character that you look like_

 **_Cute Guy:_ ** _I do NOT look like him_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: you do the thing with the slicked back hair_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: it’s not even close to looking like his does_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: ¯\\_(_ _ツ)_/¯_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: you refuse to tell me your name_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _I have no other option_

 **_Cute Guy:_ ** _you could pick literally any other name I’ve used_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: Oh well._

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: what do you have my name as?_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: …Cyrus?_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: I never told you my name!_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: you wear a nametag_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: oh._

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _well_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _whatever_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _why did you give me your number?_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: I wanted to talk to you_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _but why?_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: well it’s hard to have a conversation in line. especially when it’s busy. I figured this would be easier._

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _okay._

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _that doesn’t answer my question though_

 **_Cute Guy:_ ** _I wanted to get to know you_

 **_Cyrus_ ** _: I’m not allowed to talk to strangers_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: ?????_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _i don’t know your name which technically makes you a stranger_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: you’re never going to let that go, are you?_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _WANTING TO KNOW WHAT SOMEONE’S NAME IS ISN’T WEIRD_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _it’s literally the first step to becoming friends with someone_

_**Cute Guy** : but we’re already friends, aren’t we? you know my coffee order and everything_

**_Cyrus:_ ** _i-_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _no_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _you don’t have a coffee order. you just pick a random item off the menu every time_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: yeah, that’s my order_

 **_Cute Guy:_ ** _and you’re the only one who knows that_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: so that makes us friends_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _…I don’t even know how to respond to that_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: :D_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: hey so as much as I am greatly enjoying this conversation, I actually need to get to bed_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _big day tomorrow?_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: just family stuff but I have to get up early_

 **_Cyrus:_ ** _all righty. sweet dreams then_

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: you too_ _😊_

Cyrus stared at his phone screen for a few minutes after the conversation ended. He didn’t know what he had been expecting from it. Part of him had thought he would finally get the guy’s name, but it seemed he was going to continue being annoying about it. He was also still somewhat confused about the context of the conversation. Even though he had come right out and asked, the guy had been pretty vague about why he had given Cyrus his number. ‘Getting to know him’ could be just on a friend basis, but the conversation had gotten a little flirty (at least from what Cyrus could tell).

Sighing, he put his phone aside and started getting ready for bed. He supposed that he would have to just wait and see how things would progress.

\-------

Over the course of the break, Cyrus ended up spending a lot of time texting with Cute Guy. A lot of their conversations consisted of teasing back and forth, leaving Cyrus wondering if they were actually flirting or not. He wasn’t opposed to it, but he wanted to know if it was actually being reciprocated or not. Plus, as funny as Cute Guy thought he was being, Cyrus wasn’t going to commit to anything until he actually learned what the guy’s name was.

He ended up explaining a lot about Hanukkah to Cute Guy, who seemed genuinely interested in learning about it. He also managed to find out some more information on Cute Guy: he did go to the same school as Cyrus, but was majoring in sports management, which explained why Cyrus hadn’t crossed paths with him before. He had an older sister who went to college in the town over from where they went. He played basketball on their college’s team, but didn’t think he would try going pro.

As second semester drew closer, Cyrus found himself feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety. He found that once the holidays were over, his hometown was pretty boring, so he was ready to go back to school, where at least he had people to hang out with and things to do. He was also feeling a combination of emotions at seeing Cute Guy face-to-face again. They had talked more over text than they ever had in person, and he didn’t know how that would affect things. Cute Guy hadn’t said anything about meeting up once they were back, so Cyrus supposed he would just have to wait and see if he showed up for coffee.

The first week back on campus was a blur of new classes and getting used to a different schedule. Cyrus wasn’t scheduled to work until his second week back, so he didn’t even step foot in the coffee shop until the second Monday back. It wasn’t nearly as busy as it had been before break, which he was grateful for. Enough people came in that he wasn’t bored, but he wasn’t overwhelmed with orders either. And even though he wouldn’t have admitted it out loud, he was keeping one eye on the door, waiting for Cute Guy to come in.

He had texted Cyrus the day before break started, wishing him luck in his classes. Cyrus had replied with a similar message and hadn’t heard from him since. He had debated texting him again but decided against it. He still wasn’t sure where this was all going between them, and since the guy wouldn’t even give him his name, he decided he wasn’t going to put in any extra effort yet. That wasn’t to say that he wasn’t cautiously hoping that Cute Guy would walk through the door.

Of course, it was when he wasn’t paying attention that Cute Guy showed up. He had bent down to pick something up off the floor, and when he straightened back up, Cute Guy was standing at the counter, trademark grin on his face.

 “I almost forgot what your face looked like,” was the first thing out of his mouth, and it threw Cyrus for a second.

“I didn’t realize I was that forgettable,” he snarked back, surprised at his own daring. Cute Guy broke into laughter at the comment though, and Cyrus couldn’t help but smile back.

“What do you want?” he asked, trying to return to his professional mode.

“I wanted to see you,” Cute Guy said.

“I meant your drink,” Cyrus said, hoping he wasn’t blushing at the comment.

“Hmm,” he mused. “Surprise me.”

Cyrus paused for a moment, considering. Every once in awhile a customer asked for a recommendation, and he usually had a few go-tos.

“Any allergies or ingredients you don’t want?” Cyrus asked. Cute Guy shook his head. Trying to keep the smirk off his face, Cyrus punched in an order for a Caffè Americano. All the drinks the guy had ordered so far had been pretty sugary, so he would likely not be expecting this. He told Cute Guy his total and received a few bills in return. Grabbing a cup, he wrote ‘Draco Malfoy’ in large letters.

This time, he kept an eye on the end of the counter. Cute Guy lounged against the wall, looking at something on his phone. When the name was called by an annoyed-sounding Buffy, the guy smirked and grabbed his drink. He raised it in Cyrus’ direction when he noticed him watching and then took a sip of it.

His face twisted up in surprise as the bitter liquid hit his tongue, and Cyrus couldn’t help but laugh out loud at his expression. Cute Guy looked up ruefully at the sound.

“That’s just mean,” he complained jokingly.

“I’ll give you a good drink when you tell me your name,” Cyrus countered. The guy simply laughed and took another sip, wincing slightly at the taste, as he headed out the door. Cyrus caught a glimpse of Buffy giving him a knowing look, and he busied himself by cleaning up a few pieces of garbage in his area. He hadn’t told her about getting Cute Guy’s number, or about how much texting they had done. He was sure she would have some things to say about that, and he didn’t want to get into.

\------------

Cute Guy didn’t come in every single day, but he was a somewhat frequent visitor. He hadn’t asked Cyrus to surprise him with a drink again, clearly having learned his lesson the first time. However, the fake names continued. As did the flirting. Cyrus was fairly positive at this point that it was flirting, and he was flirting back just as much. However, he was starting to feel somewhat frustrated by the whole situation. If Cute Guy actually liked him, there was the possibility of something happening between them. But he was still being stubborn on the whole name thing.

A few weeks into the semester passed, and they were still stuck in the same limbo. However, things finally changed one late afternoon on a Friday. Cyrus had just finished taking the orders from what seemed like half the school’s dance team when Cute Guy approached the counter.

“Seems like you’re pretty busy today,” he commented, leaning up against the counter.

“We’re always busy,” Cyrus replied. “We’re a coffee shop on a college campus.”

“Makes it harder for me to stop and chat,” Cute Guy said. “All these impatient people waiting for their coffee.”

In that moment, there wasn’t anyone standing behind him, but as he spoke, the door opened, and a blonde girl walked in. Cute Guy took no notice of her though and continued to talk.

“You know, you could talk to me outside of work,” Cyrus suggested.

“I do!” Cute Guy protested. “We text all the time.”

“I mean real talking,” Cyrus countered. “Face-to-face.”

“Like on a date?” Cute Guy asked, causing Cyrus’ heart to skip several beats. Before he could respond though, the blonde girl who was now standing behind Cute Guy looked up from her phone in annoyance.

“TJ, will you stop flirting and order already? Some of us don’t have time to stand here all day.”

Cute Guy – or TJ apparently – turned bright red as Cyrus’ eyes widened and a wide grin split across his face. TJ turned to glare at the girl behind him who looked less than impressed.

“Can I get a tall Caramel Macchiato?” he said, still pretty pink in the face.

“Sure,” Cyrus said, unable to keep the grin off his face, punching in the order. He grabbed a cup and wrote “TJ” in big, bold letters on the side of the cup. TJ handed over his money and skulked down to the end of the counter. Cyrus took the blonde girl’s order and ended up getting caught up in more orders as more customer’s came in. TJ apparently had left during this time, which Cyrus was slightly disappointed by. After all this time, he finally had gotten Cute Guy’s name. Not that it was a lot to go on – he didn’t have a last name, which meant he still wouldn’t be able to find him on social media or anything – but it was something. 

After his shift, he walked out of the shop alone, wincing as the cold air hit his face. To his surprise, TJ was sitting on the bench outside the coffee shop.

“Hey,” he said, standing up as Cyrus walked up to him.

“Have you been out here this entire time?” Cyrus asked in surprise. It had been well over an hour since TJ had visited the shop.

“Nah, I was in the library,” TJ explained. “I had a pretty good idea of when yours shift ended though, so I got here about five minutes ago.”

“TJ,” Cyrus said, the grin spreading back over his face. TJ sighed exasperatedly, but he had a smile on his face as well.

“Yeah,” he said. “My sister and her big mouth.”

“You’re lucky she did that,” Cyrus told him.

“Why?” TJ asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

“I would have said no otherwise.”

“No to what?” TJ asked, still looking confused.

“Didn’t you ask me on a date?” Cyrus said. TJ’s cleared up as he realized what Cyrus was talking about.

“Oh, yeah!” he said. “Wait, you were going to say no?”

“I didn’t know your name,” Cyrus said. “That’s kind of a pretty basic prerequisite to going out with someone.”

“Fair enough,” TJ said. “I would have told you. I was going to anyways.”

“Why didn’t you in the first place?” Cyrus asked.

“I thought it would be funny,” TJ shrugged. “And I kind of wanted to see how you would react.”

“Why?” Cyrus asked.

“I thought you were cute,” TJ said without a trace of embarrassment. “I figured doing something goofy would get your attention. And it worked.”

Cyrus cocked an eyebrow at him. “Well, you definitely stood out from every other customer we have.”

TJ grinned. “So, it worked!”

“Why did you keep it up though?” Cyrus persisted.

“It was funny,” TJ said. “And then I did it for so long that I wasn’t sure when to actually drop the act and tell you my real name.”

“But you were willing to ask me out anyways?”

“It worked?” TJ said with a hopeful expression.

“No,” Cyrus said, giving TJ a look. “It wouldn’t have worked. I was going to say no, remember?”

“What about now?” TJ asked, looking a little worried.

Cyrus paused, thinking it over. “What’s your last name?”

“Kippen,” TJ said immediately.

“Hmm,” Cyrus pretended to muse. He had already made up his mind, but figured that TJ deserved to sweat a little bit. “What does TJ stand for?”

“Sorry, but that information is classified,” TJ said. “Nobody besides my family knows that.”

He still looked nervous though, and Cyrus decided to take pity on him.

“All right,” he finally said.

“You mean…?” TJ asked hopefully.

“Yes, I’ll go on a date with you,” Cyrus said, letting a gentle smile cross his face. TJ broke into a giant grin in response.

“Really?” he asked.

“Really,” Cyrus confirmed. TJ bounced up and down a few times on the balls of his feet.

“Okay, okay!” he said. “So, there’s an outdoor skating rink in town. I thought it would be fun to try that out?”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Cyrus agreed. He wasn’t an amazing skater, but that just meant there was the potential for hand-holding.

TJ shifted a little closer to Cyrus. “Can I walk you back to your dorm?”

“Sure,” Cyrus agreed, feeling butterflies in his stomach. In the whole name revelation, he had kind of lost track of the fact that TJ had been flirting pretty blatantly, and actually asked him out on a date. Now that everything was cleared up, he was able to focus on that fact. A very cute boy wanted to go on a date with him. And said boy was now walking him to his dorm. And they were actually going to go on said date. It was a lot to process, and he was sure that he would end up doing a happy dance once he was up in the privacy of his dorm room.

As they walked, they fell into easy conversation. Most of their talking had either been over text or in quick chats at the coffee counter, so this was different. But it turned out to be pretty easy, and Cyrus was happy to find that they didn’t lapse into any awkward silences. All too soon, they reached Cyrus’ dorm, and he was a little disappointed to say goodbye to TJ. However, as he was walking up the stairs to his room, he felt his phone buzz.

 **_Cute Guy_ ** _: Can’t wait until Saturday!_

Grinning, Cyrus unlocked his door, and after seeing that his roommate wasn’t in, he allowed himself a happy dance.

\-------

Their first date went very well, and many more followed after. While they didn’t see each other very often during the day, since their classes were on opposite sides of campus, TJ often stopped by the shop to grab a drink and chat Cyrus up briefly as he waited at the counter. Sometimes he would do his homework at a table, waiting for Cyrus to get off his shift. This caused more distractions for both of them than actual productivity, so he didn’t make a habit of it. Now when TJ got coffee, Cyrus would make up his own names to write on the cup, or, depending on the number of customers, he would take time to write little messages to TJ. Buffy refused to call out any of the names that Cyrus would write now that she knew TJ’s name, but still smiled when she saw what Cyrus would write.

At one point, once they had been dating for a while, TJ admitted that he only came in to get coffee because he had seen Cyrus working there once while waiting to meet someone and thought that he was cute. When he had ordered for the first time, he had texted his sister and asked her for a good drink order, since he normally didn’t drink coffee. He kept coming in after that, just so he could get a chance to talk to Cyrus. That was the reason for why he ordered a different drink every time; he would just pick something random off the menu.

Cyrus ended up getting to know TJ’s sister pretty well, and despite his best efforts, he couldn’t get her to tell him what TJ actually stood for. Apparently, he had some blackmail on her, so she wasn’t willing to spill the details. However, she had loudly proclaimed that her brother was an idiot when she learned of what he had been doing. TJ had been good-natured enough to accept their teasing and mocking of his flirtation techniques. He had been very diligent about always being honest with Cyrus after that. All in all, Cyrus couldn’t help but reflect on everything that had happened and feel happy about how it all turned out in the end.


End file.
